Special court for investors every month

ANAND RAJ

Soon, not all investors will have to rush to Patna for renewal of lease deed, product addition or change of firm’s name. Neither will they face the prospect of failing to meet the MD or a senior officer.

From May, Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (Biada) will start udyami adalats to redress entrepreneurs’ woes. The adalats will be held monthly in all four of Biada’s regional offices — Patna, Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur and Darbhanga. However, the adalat would not handle land or plot allocation.

“Once the monthly udyami adalat’s schedule is announced, entrepreneurs can come with their grievances,” Biada managing director Dipak Kumar Singh told The Telegraph. Apart from executive director of the regional office, either the MD himself or a senior official from headquarters would represent him at Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur or Darbhanga adalats.

Earlier, investors had to take their grievances to Biada’s Patna office and return disgruntled if they failed to meet the MD or a senior official. The ordeal was greater if their firm was outside Patna. But now, their problems can be addressed at the adalat if they submit their applications 10 days in advance to MD or executive director of Biada.

The month’s first udyami adalat would be organised on the first Friday of the month at its headquarters in Patna. In the second week, an adalat would be held at Biada’s regional office in Darbhanga on Tuesday and another at Muzaffarpur on Friday. In the third week the adalat would be organised at Bhagalpur on Saturday.

Asked how it would help if land allotments were not being looked into, Keshri said the actual problems arise only after investors are allotted land.

Ajit Sharan, who set up Himalaya Food Products in Patna’s Kumhrar area in 2005, differed. “When I approached Biada over problems of getting bank loans, I was told that Biada looks only into the land aspect. For all other issues, investors should approach District Industries Centre,” he said. He, however, welcomed Biada’s initiative.